>
previous discussion that you refer to
I was not aware of the link previously supplied as I was reading through the daily collections. Sorry about that. The study supplied looks weak to me but it is not "no evidence".
An ABC employee once explained to me that the ABC had to have a left wing bias, to balance the right wing bias of the commercial media, a view I have some sympathy with. I remember one election night watching the ABC, and one ABC commentater stated "I think **we**'re going to win that seat", meaning the ALP was going to win it. No-one seemed to notice this. Yes this is anecdotal but having spent a lot of time listening to the ABC I find it amazing that someone could conclude they are biased to the 'right'. Just as I would dispute the conclusion that the biases are only very slight across the board - commercial radio seems very anti-ALP to me, Fairfax clearly pro-ALP, Murdoch pro whatever suits Rupert's interests (eg he constantly criticises the coalition's NBN policy as it is in his interests to have the taxpayer fund a high bandwidth distribution medium that he can use, though usually the conservatives suit him better. He backed Whitlam in 1972).
The AFR came out as the most left wing newspaper. I don't think that is accurate. To me they just try to give their readers the best approximation to the truth that they can find (like the Economist). Nothing makes you a truth seeker like investing serious money - illusions can be very costly.
I stand by my view that the left/right wing dichotomy is simplistic to the point of meaninglessness. If your views can be characterised in that way then you may be a hedgehog*.
> "When someone specifically states that they don't want women's and children's hospitals because they won't personally use them then it is a clear example of being heartless."
I gather you agree this is an ad hominem attack, though you claim it is justified.
Tim Josling
* Aeschylus: "The fox knows many things[about how to catch a hedgehog], the hedgehog knows only one thing[curl up into a ball when you see a fox]". So a hedgehog has a single model that gets applied to anything. Examples: Noam Chomsky [all the world's problems are due to US imperialism], many radical feminists [everything is the fault of patriarchy], many religious fundamentalists [everything is the fault of sin and your lack of belief], many political true believers of all persuasions. IMHO Government is best for some things, with appropriate safeguards, ditto for private businesses.